One Long Summer
by LPI3
Summary: With nowhere else to go, and alone in the world, Draco must spend the summer at the Dursley's house, against his and Harry's will. *NOW COMPLETE!*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. Shame though, I'd have millions…

A/N- while scanning over some stories to read on ff, this idea came to me, and I decided to write it, of course. Not something I usually do, but here it is.

"Professor, the Dursley's would never let him stay, you know that." Harry said beginning to grow red in the face out of anger with the old man's stubbornness.

"I know that, Harry, but after a little persuasion, I think you would have found that Vernon and Petunia were a bit more lenient after I described the situation to them." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled the way they always did when things were going his way.

Harry growled under his breath, "you know we don't get along." He was going to say anything and everything until the headmaster agreed with him.

"I'm aware of that, but I figured, the more friends you have now, the less enemies you have later, right?" Dumbledore grabbed a silver dish full of candies out of one of the drawers in his desk and pushed it towards Harry, indicating for him to take one or two.

Harry denied the candies, but instead began arguing more, "Professor, I don't want him there." He said bluntly.

Dumbledore sighed, "Harry, I know your feelings towards Mr. Malfoy are, some what," he paused, "uneasy. But try, if you will, to put yourself in his shoes, both your parents gone, and nowhere to go."

Harry rolled his eyes, "that is pretty much what I have been through, sir."

"Your house, being under my protection, is the safest place for Mr. Malfoy to go this summer. His father is in Azkaban, and his mother is missing. He has no relatives that aren't out to try and kill him, and with all his friend's parents being Death Eaters, their homes aren't safe. Do you understand my situation?"

Angry and frustrated, Harry nodded, "I suppose. He won't like it though."

Dumbledore smiled, "he wasn't too keen on the situation either, but he has agreed, somewhat reluctantly. I just want you to try and be on your best behavior." Harry stood and walked to the door before Dumbledore called out to him again, "please, Harry, I'm counting on you."

"A whole summer with Malfoy?" Said Ron as he and Harry were packing up their things for the train that would leave that afternoon, "Has Dumbledore gone completely mental?"

Harry shrugged and dumped his schoolbooks into his bag in a heap, "I don't know. He said Voldemort's out to get him because he turned on them." (A/N- alright, in here Draco accepted Dumbledore's proposal to turn to the good side…just because.)

Ron shook his head, "between him and Snape, I can't tell which on is more evil."

"Well, it's going to be a long horrible summer." Harry said snapping his trunk shut, "I bet he and Dudley will get along wonderfully, I mean they both love tormenting me." He and Ron cracked equal smiles and headed to the door to find Hermione.

"You will write, won't you?" Hermione asked given Harry and Ron good-bye hugs. They stood at Platform Nine and Three Quarters in the midst of the crowd of people, muggles and witches and wizards alike. Malfoy stood a few feet away looking angry and sulky. The Dursley's hadn't even gotten out of the car and were parked a block away.

"Yeah I will, I promise." Harry smiled as Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Granger pulled their children away. He stood there alone for a moment, hoping Draco wouldn't be there when he turned around but instead decide to run away and leave Harry be. But once most of the crowed had departed, Harry turned and saw Draco, sitting on his trunk, his arms folded across his chest and glaring at Harry.

Harry sighed and muttered, "let's get this over with then." He began wheeling his trunk down the street, Draco close behind him. "Let's just get this straight," he said as they got closer and closer to the car, and the Dursley's heads could be seen from inside. "I don't want you anywhere near me during the day, and I don't want you hanging out around anywhere that I am, got it?"

Draco purposely kicked the back of Harry's trunk sending it onto its side, "Wouldn't dream of it, Potter." He sneered at the other boy who bent down to pick up his possessions.

After both trunks were fit rather tightly into the trunk, the two boys were squeezed into the back seat with Dudley, who looked rather green and sweaty. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia didn't speak one word to the two boys. Draco thought this was rather odd, his mother, at least, always asked him how his year went. He figured, however, that the less the muggles talk to him this summer the better, so he stuck to just staring out of the window beside him.

Harry was squeezed in between Draco and Dudley because he didn't want to be any closer to the strange new wizard as was possible. Harry didn't mind so much, it gave him a reason to hit Draco in the ribs every time they turned a corner. For a moment even, he thought it would be very fun if he and Draco ganged up on Dudley this summer and gave a bit of a scare. This idea was quickly dismissed when he remembered doing things with Draco wouldn't be fun, and he hated him.

The car pulled to a stop in front of the same house Harry went back to every summer. Everything looked exactly the same, not that he had expected it to change or anything. Uncle Vernon quickly got the luggage out of the trunk, almost as if their contents were full of nasty liquid about to spill all over.

Draco angrily grabbed his trunk and stood waiting for Harry to get his. He may hate the boy, but he was brought up with some manners, and knew it wasn't good to just invite yourself into someone's home. Once Harry had his stuff wheeling towards the door, he followed.

"I'll show you to the guest room." Harry grumbled once in the door. But Uncle Vernon stopped him suddenly.

"I don't think so, he is staying in your room. He's your guest after all."

"My room?" Harry asked incredulously, "he can't stay there, it's barely big enough for me, let alone-"

"Are you going to argue about this with me?" Uncle Vernon yelled. Harry shut up and grumbled for Draco to follow him up the stairs.

Draco had never seen a room like this one before. His room at the manner was very large, with stonewalls and dark curtains, and very little furniture. This room, however, was small and cramped, and bright. As Draco looked around, he even thought it was rather inviting.

"I don't have a king sized bed for you your highness," Harry said sarcastically, "you'll have to just deal with the floor."

"It's a good thing you don't have that, it wouldn't fit inside this linen closet." Draco retorted, "now, be so kind as to show me where your real room is." He grinned evilly at Harry.

"Very funny, Malfoy." Harry said and dropped his stuff at the foot of his bed, "I suppose you'll need a blanket? Unless people with no souls don't get cold."

Draco opened the closet and peered inside for a look, it was about the size of his bath tube, "Yes, we do actually get cold every now and then." He said paying no mind to Harry's insult.

Suddenly Uncle Vernon entered the room and closed the door behind him. He turned to look at both of the boys, "now listen here, boy," he said his beady eyes focused on Draco, "we have certain rules that you must obey, or you'll be out of here quicker than you can say out, do you understand?" Draco made a noise in his throat that sounded much like a held in laugh, as if to challenge the older man to throw him out.

"Petunia and I allow no use of," he paused and lowered his voice, "of what you people do in this house."

Draco stared blankly at Vernon, "you mean magic?" he said dully.

Vernon's face flushed purple, "Secondly, you are never to mention that word around anyone here. If any of the neighbors heard such nonsense, we would be the laughing stock of the country club for sure."

"What's so wrong with saying magic?" Draco asked still staring blankly ahead at the now dark red-faced Vernon. Harry knew he was showing him who was the boss.

"Finally, there are to be no questions asked." Vernon said, his lips twitching with anger, "Petunia and I will not answer any stupid questions you have." He straightened up a little more, "you are to act normal here. Do you got it?"

Draco shrugged, "sure."

Vernon snorted and turned to Harry, "brush your hair, boy. You look like one of those homeless freaks." And with that left the room slamming the door shut behind him.

Draco snorted out a laugh, "homeless freak." He laughed at Harry.

Harry shrugged, "get used to being insulted as well, Malfoy, this isn't exactly heaven."

Draco stopped laughing, "I never imagined it to be." He said quietly, but Harry thought he noticed something change in Draco's eyes, they seemed to dim a bit with sadness.

"I'll, I'll get you that blanket." Harry said breaking the awkward silence and exited the room.

Draco lay down on the bed and groaned, "How do you sleep like this?" He yelled through the open door. A small squeal outside of the door made him sit up. He made his way to the doorway just in time to see the fat bottom of Dudley disappear into his room. Suddenly Draco's face lit up again and a grin crossed his face. Looking to see that Harry was busy at the other end of the hallway, he crept towards Dudley's room.

He found a long handled feather duster sitting on a table just next to Dudley's door and grabbed it. Then took hold of the doorknob and threw the door open. Dudley was sitting at his desk at the computer and turned when he heard the door fling open. Draco flung out his arm towards Dudley, the handle of the duster gripped tightly in his outstretched hand, like holding a wand, "Diffendo!" he yelled saying the first spell coming to mind. Dudley screamed and toppled off his chair, the computer's cord was wrapped around his ankle and the whole thing was pulled down with him landing with a load crash on the floor.

Draco doubled over with laughter; he never imagined he could have this much fun at Harry's house. Harry was first at the doorway, a stack of blankets in his arms. And closely behind him, Petunia and Vernon ran into the room to see what happened. Petunia gave a little scream and ran to Dudley. Vernon rounded on Draco and Harry. Harry's face went pale at his uncle's face, and Draco couldn't stop laughing. Vernon grabbed each boy by the backs of their hair and half dragged half pulled them into Harry's room.

He threw the two roughly into the room and then glared angrily at them, "that little prank will cost you both supper." He yelled and slammed the door shut, making the place rattle slightly.

Draco was still chuckling softly and rubbing the back of his head, "did you see him? I really got him good."

Harry smiled, "I just wish I would have been there to see it all. I think he wet himself." The two laughed for a moment and then realized what they were doing and quickly stopped. "Here's your blankets, and pillow." Harry said thrusting the fabrics into Draco's arms.

"I'll set up after I have something to eat, I haven't had anything since lunch time." Draco said and dropped the stuff onto the floor and headed to the door.

"Vernon said no dinner." Harry said quickly.

"Yeah, my father says a lot of things he doesn't mean, what's the difference?" Draco shrugged and left the room towards the kitchen.

Harry shook his head, it would be only a matter of time before Uncle Vernon got him and escorted him back to the room. His uncle meant business when he was mad. And as if on queue, Uncle Vernon appeared at the door with his hand clenched tightly onto Draco's shirt and threw the boy inside yet again. "Stay in here!" he yelled and slammed the door again, only this time they heard it lock on the opposite side.

"How dare he!" Draco narrowed his eyes and kicked the door rather hard as if to protest.

"Unlike your dad," Harry said sitting down on his bed, "my uncle means the things he says, and he'll see to it that it's done."

"If my father were here." Draco whispered angrily, "of course, I suppose I have you to thank for that one, Potter." He snapped turning to Harry.

Harry glared at him, "he was a Death Eater, he would have been caught in the end, or killed, and you should be thanking me. Voldemort would have been all over him if he weren't in Azkaban."

Draco began setting up his little bed on the floor far away from Harry's, "It's your fault I'm here." He said

Harry couldn't believe how childish he was being, "I never made your mom leave you."

"She didn't leave me," Draco said angrily, "she's in hiding, which is where she should be."

"I don't think my mom would have done that if I was in that situation."

"What exactly are you saying, Potter? That your dead mother is a better nurturer than mine?"

"Forget it." Harry said and rolled over on his bed to face the wall, away from Draco.

Draco lay down as well on his makeshift bed and stared at the ceiling before he drifted into sleep. It seemed to him only a few minutes had passed when there was a loud rapping at the door, "one minute, Dad." He said groggily and rolled over.

"Get up!" the voice outside of the door yelled and then a lock turned and then the noise was gone.

"That wasn't your dad, Malfoy. It's Petunia."

Draco bolted up when he heard Harry's voice forgetting for a second where he was. He yawned and looked around the room. Harry was pulling on a new shirt, his hair a mess, "nice hair, Potter," he yawned, "you should keep it that way."

Harry rolled his eyes, "breakfast is ready." He said and then left the room.

Draco stood and pulled a new set of clothes out of his trunk. He quickly put on his pants and then pulled off his shirt and paused, looking into the mirror that hung on the closet door. Deep scars scattered his pale skin. He stood staring at each line for a second before the door opened and Harry walked in. "Knocking would be good." Draco yelled and pulled his shirt over his torso quickly.

"What were you doing?" Harry asked looking awkwardly at Draco. "What were you looking at?"

"Nothing," Draco said and pushed passed Harry, "can't a person look at himself in the mirror every now and then?"

A/N- So, how did you all like it? Please report!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

A/N- Sorry for the awful long wait, I really don't have an excuse. Sorry, but I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Draco stood and pulled a new set of clothes out of his trunk. He quickly put on his pants and then pulled off his shirt and paused, looking into the mirror that hung on the closet door. Deep scars scattered his pale skin. He stood staring at each line for a second before the door opened and Harry walked in. "Knocking would be good." Draco yelled and pulled his shirt over his torso quickly.

"What were you doing?" Harry asked looking awkwardly at Draco. "What were you looking at?"

"Nothing," Draco said and pushed passed Harry, "can't a person look at himself in the mirror every now and then?"

"What exactly would you call this?" Draco asked looking down at his breakfast plate that Petunia set in front of him.

"You should just be grateful you're getting anything with that stunt you pulled yesterday, boy." Petunia said angrily sucking in her cheeks in frustration, "You scared poor Dudley so bad, my baby refused to come down and eat with the family!"

Harry settled down beside Draco at the table and took a drink of his orange juice.

"You're right," Draco said to Aunt Petunia, a smirk on his face, "I'll go apologize right after breakfast."

"I don't want you anywhere near Dudley while you're here." Vernon said looking up from his paper. "You'll soon realize that for every action there is a consequence, and you broke our rules so you will have to be punished."

Draco looked over at Vernon with a cool expression, "you going to lock me into the dungeon, or hang me by my ankles?"

"Excuse me?" Vernon said looking at the blonde as if he were some sort of alien.

Draco shrugged, "Those are my usual punishments at home. I just wouldn't want my father to be upset if he knew you were doing the punishing wrong."

Harry quietly chewed his food looking from Draco, on his left, to Vernon, on his right. He wondered when he was going to have to get out of the way before the table or something would be thrown into the air.

Vernon, who seemed at a loss of words at Draco's last remark, looked at his watch and stood from the table, "I'm off to work now, Petunia," he said kissing her cheek, "you put these two boys to work today. I want him earning his stay here." He turned to Draco, "It isn't just some free vacation."

"Yes, sir." Draco grinned and cocked an eyebrow at the older man.

"You know, you are going to get in it deep this summer and I am not going to be there to pull you out." Harry said quietly to Draco once Petunia and Vernon had walked out of the room.

"You see, Potter, that's you problem." Draco said, "You're so scared of your aunt and uncle, you wont stand up to them."

"I'm not afraid of them." Harry said angrily turning on Draco.

"Oh you're not, huh? Every time you're around them you either cower or just take what they throw at you. Like when that uncle of yours insulted your hair, what did you do?" Harry stayed quiet. "Exactly. Nothing." Draco continued, "You're stronger then them, and you have powers they could only dream of. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Harry glared at the other boy for a moment before standing to leave, "well you haven't lived with them all your life, have you?" He said and then stormed out of the room.

"What does this solve anyway?" Draco asked wiping his brow with his arm. He and Harry were outside in the front yard trimming the bushes that surrounded the lawn.

Harry put down his shears and pointed to the neighbor's house, "You see their perfect bushes?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"And you see their neighbor's perfect bushes?"

"So?"

"And the perfect ones across the street?"

"What's your point, Potter?"

"Petunia's bushes have to as perfect, or even better, then those." Harry said resuming the trimming work.

"This is what you do all summer? Cut bushes?" Draco asked, he seemed a bit disappointed that all his perfect images of the boy wonder were turning out to be wrong.

"Yeah, sorry I can't throw you any of your usual fancy balls or anything." Harry said sarcastically.

"I don't even really like the balls my father throws." Draco said after a moment, "I always end up hide away or finding an empty room to be in."

"What you can't dance?"

"How do you like being in places where everyone hates and judges you?" Draco asked looking seriously at Harry.

Harry was silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond. He had been in those situations very often, "yeah, I know the feeling. I don't like it either." He paused and then hesitated before adding, "Sorry."

"Don't get all mushy on me, Potter. I would say it isn't your fault, but the truth is somewhere down the line, it probably is" Draco said with a smirk.

Harry grinned back, "Just keep cutting, your highness." He said shaking his head.

Harry stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. It was close to dinnertime, and he and Draco had been out all day doing to choirs Petunia had set out for them. They had watered all of the plants, mowed the grass, painted the fence, washed the car, and cleaned up the house. Harry shook his head vigorously like he always did after a shower to get his hair semi-dry. Then he put on his glasses to make the world clearer.

He walked into his room to grab a fresh pair of pants and found Draco fast asleep on his bed. Harry looked at him while he pulled on his pants. He couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the blond boy; after all, living with the Dursley's was no picnic. He didn't even want to wake him, but Harry knew that Draco would be mad if he didn't get dinner.

"Malfoy," Harry said shaking Draco's shoulder. The other boy groaned and rolled over. "Malfoy, wake up, its time for dinner."

Slowly Draco rose and blinked a few times. "What time is it?" He yawned.

Harry looked over at his alarm clock, "a quarter to six. Don't you want to take a shower or something before you eat?"

Draco shook his head, "I don't even want to move. I'm beat."

Harry let out a small laugh and pulled on a shirt, "get used to being tired around here." Draco groaned quietly, "So you have seriously never done that much work in your life?"

"We have servants at the manor that do the choirs. I trained everyday for quidditch. I guess compared to a hardcore practice session with my father and these choirs, I'd take the practicing."

"I wish I could practice, but the Dursley's lock up my broom every summer." Harry said a bit of disappointment in his voice.

"You never get to practice, and yet you're still better than I am?" Draco smirked, "you really are a wonder boy."

Harry threw his wet towel at Draco, who gave him a dirty hand gesture in return. Suddenly, Petunia's voice from down stairs called up to them, "Dinner is ready!"

Harry and Draco stood there for a moment just staring at each other. Then Harry ran a hand through his wet messy hair and coughed, "I guess we could go now."

"After you wonder boy." Draco said gesturing Harry first.

"No, no, I insist your highness." Harry said bowing slightly to Draco.

Draco shrugged, "about time you start appreciating me for what I truly am to you." He walked out of the door in front of Harry.

Down stairs Harry quickly noticed that Dudley, with much persuading by Petunia and Vernon, had finally come out of his room and sat at the table. "Hey Dudley," Harry greeted a smile across his face, "you really are getting more daring, when you found out I was a wizard it took you a week to come out of your room, but you've only been in there one day with Malfoy here." He joked, but quickly received a smack on the back of the head by Vernon.

Draco laughed at Harry's comment, "a week?" He turned to Dudley, who squealed at his quick movement, "you actually stayed up in your room for a week?" he also got a sharp hit on the back of the head by Vernon.

"Sit down both of you, and I don't want to hear another word from either of you. I will write to that crack pot teacher of yours and inform him of your behavior, so don't push me." Vernon said angrily sitting down at the head of the table.

Draco and Harry sat next to each other since Dudley didn't want either of them next to him. The quickly glanced at one another and then turned away trying to hold in their laughter.

Petunia walked over to the table and began placing plates of food in front of everyone at the table, "Mrs. Suzan across the street saw the two boys today out in front working on the yard. She asked me who _he_ was," She paused to give Draco a dirty look who returned it as soon as she turned her back to him, "I told her he was just a distant relative visiting for the summer."

"That's good." Vernon grumbled, "Just as no one thinks we have adopted him, one was enough. If that old man thinks we are keeping him for longer than the summer, he has another thing coming."

Draco couldn't take it anymore, "I _am_ here, incase you forgot." He looked at Vernon as though he were stupid.

"I am really getting tired of your attitude, boy." Vernon said putting down his fork and knife.

"And I am getting pretty tired of you barking out orders, I get enough of that at home, I don't need it here." Draco also put down his silverware. Harry rolled his eyes and prayed silently no one would get killed.

"This is my house and while you are under my roof you will follow my rules!" Vernon began turning a bit purple in the face.

"Then show some respect, I guarantee you I would do the same."

"I want you to get up to that room and I don't want to see you again for the rest of the night! You will not tell me how to run my life!"

"Then don't tell me how to run mine you filthy muggle!"

Harry's jaw dropped, Draco had gone too far, and he knew it. There was an awkward silence that filled the room as Petunia, Dudley, and Harry looked from Vernon to Draco and back. Then Vernon grabbed Draco roughly by the back of the hair and dragged him out of the room. Harry could hear the two of them cursing at each other all the way up the stairs.

Petunia let out a breath, "this is getting to be too much. I am contacting that Dumbledore man this instant!" with that she ran from the room to fetch some paper and a pen.

"About time they get rid of him." Dudley said. These were pretty much the first words Harry had heard him speak ever since he got home; he was a bit taken back by this, "now if only we could get rid of you we'd be great." He shot Harry an evil glare and then continued with his dinner.

Harry didn't respond, although he had several good comebacks, he was more concerned about what would happen with Malfoy. Would he really be sent away? Dumbledore surely wouldn't do that, right? Not that he cared of course, come on it's Malfoy, his worst enemy, well one of them at least…Harry shook himself out of his thoughts as Vernon came storming back down the stairs and entered into the room Petunia had gone into. Harry figured he better go upstairs and check on Malfoy.

The door to his room was closed and locked. Thankfully, Harry knew that the key was placed right above the door resting on the top of the trimming. He pulled it down and unlocked the door. He found Draco sitting by the window staring out of it, his back to Harry. And, if Harry wasn't mistaken, he could have sworn he heard slight whimpering coming from the other boy.

"Hey, you alright?" Harry asked. Malfoy turned just slightly and then turned back toward the window.

"Yeah, I'm just fine." He said sarcastically.

"You don't look fine." Harry continued shutting the door behind him as he entered fully into the room.

"Well how would you be if you were in my situation?" Draco snapped, "I don't belong here, I don't know if my parents are alright, I can't go home, or even know if it's still there anymore. I have nothing left, and to top it all off I'm living with you and your magic-hating family."

"You've only been here a day, try living here for sixteen years." Harry said sitting down on his bed. Draco stayed quiet, still staring out of the window, "Is Vernon going to send you away?"

Draco shrugged, "Either that or kick me out." He muttered, "not that I care, I'd rather be out there with You-Know-Who, then here with this family."

Harry grinned; he had had similar thoughts to that one as well in the past. "I know what you mean, but face it, this is probably one of the safest places you can be. I don't like living here anymore than you do, but if Dumbledore needs us here, then you can bet it's for a good reason."

"How can you stand living in a muggle world every summer?" Draco asked, he turned to Harry, who could see that his eyes were only slightly pinkish.

Harry shrugged, "I guess I just make a game out of it. See how many times I can make Dudley wet himself before I have to go back to school." He and Draco began to laugh.

Once their laughter had subsided a little, Harry asked, "So, do you want to write Dumbledore and ask him to give you one more chance? Then we could have a little bit of fun in this muggle town." He grinned at Draco.

Draco shrugged, "I guess if you can stand to live here all these years, I should be able to stand the summer." He paused, "but once we are back in school, nobody finds out, got it?"

Harry smirked, "of course." He threw a roll of parchment at Draco, "now write. And make it sweet." He added with a grin. Draco rolled his eyes and poured over the parchment.

A/N- Wow, that took a little longer then I had intended it to, sorry again. LPI3


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter. There, I said it…

A/N- Man, I feel bad about not writing:( It wasn't my intention to leave this story hanging, but I'm not going to keep apologizing, because I know everyone, including myself, is sick of the false promises…on with the story!!

"What are they talking about?" Draco whispered trying to shove Harry's head out of the way of the crack in the door.

"Shove off, Malfoy, I can't hear!" Harry growled back in a quiet voice not wanting his aunt and uncle to hear them listening at the door.

Petunia, Vernon, and Professor McGonagall were all in the tiny study arguing over Draco's stay at the Dursley's home. After receiving more than one angry letter from the two caregivers, Dumbledore had no choice but to try to reason with them about letting Draco stay. He of course had no time to make a visit himself, so he sent the next best thing, someone he knew could convince the muggles to continue housing the boy. Of course, he wasn't pleased with Mr. Malfoy's behavior, and made sure to tell McGonagall to deal with that as well, and promise the Dursley's it would never happen again.

"He is dangerous!" Petunia said exasperated, "we're afraid for our lives!"

"Don't be silly, Mrs. Dursley," McGonagall said calmly, "he's a sixteen year old boy, he isn't capable of doing such harm."

"Says her." Malfoy muttered under his breath. Harry gave him a stern, "shh" to silence him.

"I don't care what that old man wants us to do, we aren't going to keep him here anymore! He's undermined me for the last time!" Vernon yelled. Harry could only imagine his dark purple face getting darker, and his giant sausage like fist pounding on the desk in frustration.

"You are certainly right, Mr. Dursley." McGonagall agreed, causing the two other adults to pause momentarily in confusion, "the boy had no right to question you or your rules in your home. We will make sure he will never do it again; you have my word as well as Albus Dumbledore's on that. However, we are in desperate need of your help, if there was any other way, believe me, we would take it. However, serious situations call for desperate measures," she paused a moment, "I think Albus failed to inform you that your hospitality would not go unnoticed…"

Draco pulled away from the door, "they're going to bribe the muggles with money to keep me? How low is that?"

Harry pulled away as well. "At least now we know that you're going to stay, if there's one thing the Dursley's can't say no to, it's money."

"Further more, if we receive one more letter informing us that you aren't behaving yourself, you will not enjoy the consequences." McGonagall now had Draco in the study. After three grueling hours of arguing, and some final bribing, she had finally been able to get the Dursley's to reconsider Draco's stay, on a few conditions of course.

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm going to need you to sign right here," McGonagall pulled out a scroll of parchment and placed it on top of the desk, she pointed at the bottom where a single "x" lay waiting to be accompanied by Draco's name.

"What's this?" Draco asked already not in the best of moods, having been yelled at once again this time by McGonagall. He looked over the neat writing on the parchment, "house rules?" He looked up at the older woman, "you can't be serious!"

"Very serious, Mr. Malfoy. Dumbledore had made it perfectly clear that you are to be on your best behavior, obviously you can't do that, so the Dursley's and I have put together a list of rules for you to follow."

"A binding spell." Draco said darkly, "if I sign, I'm bond to follow those rules." He folded his arms across his chest, "and if I refuse to sign?"

McGonagall's eyes flashed and she pursed her lips, "I'm afraid that is not an option, Mr. Malfoy." Her voice was stern, almost scary and yet not loud.

Draco clenched his jaw and scowled at the cursed parchment. He grabbed the quill from McGonagall and scribbled his signature on the line. "There." He spat throwing the quill down, "signed my soul to the devil."

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, that will be all." McGonagall rolled the parchment up and quickly stored it away in her cloak, "you know how to get in touch with us if a situation arises, otherwise," her eyes narrowed and her voice was more serious, "we don't want to be bothered again because of your behavior. Is that understood?"

Draco really considered telling her to shove off, but instead he gave a tiny nod, "yes ma'am." He said through clenched teeth. And that was the last he saw of her. She disappeared with a small, 'pop'.

It was around midnight; the house was quiet and dark. Draco lay on his back in his makeshift bed. He was tired and hungry, but most of all he was homesick. He would never admit it out loud of course, but he missed his bed, his broomstick, and the forest behind his home. He could even bring himself to say that he missed his parents!

He could hear Harry's soft breathing above him on the bed; it was calm, peaceful. Draco scowled. He hated Potter so much. He hated this house, those rules, those stupid muggles, everything! He just wanted to go home and be done with wonder boy's sucky life! He sat up and scooted himself against the wall. "I just want to go home." He said quietly to himself bringing his knees closer to his chest and burring his face in his arms.

Harry started when he heard soft movement beside him. Blame it on paranoia or Voldemort, but he was always ready to be attacked. It was still dark out, he looked around for the noise and noticed Draco's form crouched against the wall. That's what he had heard. He rolled his eyes and was about to snap something sarcastic at Malfoy for waking him up, but then stopped as he heard Draco speak.

"I just want to go home."

It made Harry pause. Malfoy sounded sad, maybe not on the verge of tears sad, but more of an exhausted reserved sad. He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. A knot twisted somewhere inside of him and he cursed himself inwardly on his weakness of caring too much for those around him. It was Malfoy after all, the enemy, the spoiled brat no one liked yet everyone feared. He wasn't supposed to care, and yet, he did.

Draco's soft breathing stirred Harry from his thoughts. He was now asleep in what had to be an uncomfortable position, but, Harry shrugged, lying on the floor probably wasn't any more comfortable. He closed his eyes too and tried to sleep, but instead tossed and turned with guilt.

Vernon looked over at the clock on the wall, eleven thirty in the evening, and he still had tons more paper work to do. He yawned and leaned back in his chair at the desk in the study. Tomorrow was another workday, which meant he should be going to get some sleep. He looked one last time at the large pile of unsigned documents that needed his attention and then shrugged it off, what was one more day of catching up? He could do it later.

Pulling himself to his feet, his foot brushed against something on the floor, a piece of paper, "not more bloody bills," he grumbled bending down to pick it up. However, it wasn't a bill, or work papers, it wasn't even "normal" paper. His eyes widened as he looked at what was in his hands, "Petunia," he managed to call out.

Petunia was over in the kitchen next to the study finishing up the dishes from dinner she had been putting off. She usually only went to bed when Vernon did, something "any loyal wife would do," she always said. She heard Vernon call her, he sounded funny, as if he were scared almost. She dried her hands quickly and went over into the study, "yes, dear?" she asked.

Vernon held up the paper for her to see, "what is that?" she asked confused and a little annoyed.

"The rules." Vernon said simply and peered once again at Minerva McGonagall's tidy writing scrawled across the forgotten parchment in bright green ink. And there at the bottom was Draco Malfoy's mark, the one thing that literally bonded him to do what the Dursley's wanted. Vernon was no fool, even now the clockwork inside his mind was turning, this could really work to their advantage…

A/N- alright, not as long as you would have liked…but I hope you still liked it! And I hope you all will continue to read even though I have been so cruel to everyone and I don't deserve you!! Stay tuned! LPI3


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters…there, I said it!

A/N- Here's another chapter hope you all enjoy! LPI3

HPHP

Vernon held up the paper for her to see, "what is that?" she asked confused and a little annoyed.

"The rules." Vernon said simply and peered once again at Minerva McGonagall's tidy writing scrawled across the forgotten parchment in bright green ink. And there at the bottom was Draco Malfoy's mark, the one thing that literally bonded him to do what the Dursley's wanted. Vernon was no fool, even now the clockwork inside his mind was turning, this could really work to their advantage…

HPHP

Breakfast the next morning was a lot quieter than usual, mostly because Draco had not yet come down to the table. Vernon sat reading his paper, Petunia was busy getting Dudley a second helping, and Harry just sat eating his food, glancing every so often over at the stairs wondering what was taking Draco so long to get ready.

Finally, a good ten minutes later, Draco slumped down the stairs looking miserable and tired, like he hadn't had a wink of sleep all night.

"You look nice today," Harry insulted under his breath as Draco took the seat next to him.

"Shove it, Potter. I could get ready in the morning ten times as fast if I could use-" the last of Draco's sentence was inaudible. Harry would have thought Malfoy had just not cared to finish his statement if he hadn't seen his mouth continue to move. Draco also looked completely taken back by his muted words.

"What's up with you?" Harry asked cocking an eyebrow at Draco. Petunia and Vernon both gave each other a quick look that neither of the boys noticed.

"I don't know," Draco scrunched up his face, "I was just saying, if I could use-" once again his voice was gone, but his lips continued.

"Well, look at the time!" Vernon said loudly clearing his voice, "I'd better be off to work now." He made his way to the door, Petunia close behind him.

Once in the hall, Vernon made sure no one else was watching and then turned to his wife, "did you see that?" he asked excitedly, "he can't say the word magic!"

Petunia clapped her hands together, "Vernon, that bonding rule paper actually worked!"

Vernon shushed her quietly, "keep an eye on them would you, and tell me what else happens?" He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then exited the house whistling.

HPHP

"Malfoy, why don't you take a break? We've been out here for over an hour already!" Harry called to Draco from the bench in the shade he was sitting at.

It was a hot day, and the boys had been outside all morning mowing, pruning, cutting, and trimming the garden. Harry, tired and hot, had retreated to the shade with a cold glass of water for a well-deserved break. He expected Draco to join him, but the blond boy was still out in the hot sun pushing the mower back and forward across the backyard.

Draco wiped the sweat from his forehead, "I'm fine!" he responded when Harry had called out to him. He mentally slapped himself. He wasn't fine! He wanted a break! He wanted to stop! So why wasn't he stopping? The scolding heat beat down on him harshly, and he would have given anything for a drink of cool water, but he couldn't physically bring himself to stop working. His focus began to blur, and blackness began to invade his sight, but he couldn't stop…he couldn't stop…

Harry knew something was wrong instantly. Draco's head began to tilt to the sides, as if he were drifting off to sleep. He dropped his glass and ran to the other boy just as he began to fall, and managed to get there in time to grab hold of Draco before he hit the ground. "Draco!" he yelled to the half conscious boy in his arms.

"Are we on first name basis already, Potter?" Draco said groggily, a small smirk across his face.

"This isn't the time for laugh, Malfoy." Harry growled grabbing Draco under the arms and pulling him over to the shade, he laid him down and then quickly ran to get some water. He got back just in time to see Draco shakily trying to get to his feet again. "Hey, stop it!" Harry rushed over to him and helped him sit on the bench. He handed Draco the glass of water.

"What was that all about?" he asked as Draco began to drink.

Draco took a deep breath and leaned his head back, "nothing. I have to get back to work." He made to get up again, but Harry pushed him down.

"Like hell you are!" He said angrily, "you need a break, you're dehydrated. Now drink!"

"Yes, mother." Draco narrowed his eyes at no one in particular and took another drink.

They sat in silence for a moment, before Draco asked; "you don't think this has anything to do with that house rule bonding thing, do you?"

"What?" Harry's brow furrowed, "of course not, you were just working too hard, and the heat-"

"Not that, Potter!" Draco rolled his eyes, "I wanted to stop, I really did, but I physically couldn't do it!" he was getting angry. "Same thing with this morning, I couldn't say-" his voice cut off again and he growled in frustration.

"Didn't you read over what you signed?" Harry asked.

"Of course I did, I'm not stupid!" Draco spat.

"Did you read anything about you not being able to say certain things, or about working hard?"

Draco thought, "no. Just things like respecting the house and the muggles," he paused, "I'll bet she changed it!"

"Who?" Harry asked with one eyebrow raised.

"McGonagall, who else?" Draco exclaimed as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Alright, you've been in the sun way too long. McGonagall wouldn't do something like that, and you know it!" Harry shrugged and then added, "Maybe this is all in your head or something…"

"You think I'm making this up!" Draco yelled in frustration. "Are you that thick?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time you played with a sympathy card." Harry noted, his voice rising as well.

Draco stood abruptly, "I'm getting back to work. You stay away from me!" he stalked off back to the garden.

"Fine!" Harry called after him angrily, "pass out for all I care!" He stormed back into the house and up to his room.

HPHP

Raised voices were coming from the backyard. Petunia quickly rushed to the kitchen window overlooking the garden to see what was going on. Her eyes fell upon Harry and Draco both sitting in the shade. Harry's little friend looked pale and sweaty, almost sick like. She also noticed the abandoned lawn mower in the middle of the yard. A smirk slid across her face as she watched the boys arguing before each went their separate ways. The blond one went back to the mower and began trying to start it up again. Things couldn't be going more perfectly…

HPHP

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, Harry noticed that Draco continued do strange things. One day he had asked each of the Dursley's if there was anything at all he could do for them, and if that wasn't bad enough, he actually did them! He never back talked anymore, he did all of the chores (minus Harry's half, of course), and he never spoke of anything about the wizarding world. Harry could tell Draco was getting more and more miserable by the day.

Harry was walking down the hallway on his way up to his room when he noticed Dudley fiddling around over in the china cabinet. He paused, "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

Dudley started and spun around, but upon seeing Harry he settled down again, "I'm going to show your freaky little boyfriend whose boss around here." He growled and turned back to the china. Harry knew that Dudley had gotten a lot braver ever since Draco had stopped defending himself.

"Well, I'll tell you, I don't think he's one for tea party." Harry retorted. When Dudley didn't respond he rolled his eyes and then headed to his room.

Draco was already lying on his make shift bed, his head buried in his pillow. He didn't stir when Harry opened the door, but he knew he was awake.

"Petunia wanted to know if you finished the laundry yet." Harry said casually stepping over Draco and jumping onto his own bed.

Draco grunted into his pillow what sounded like a 'yes'. He turned slightly to face Harry, "I didn't even know I knew how to do laundry." He whined miserably.

Harry laughed, "Yeah, get used to learning a lot of new things-"

Harry was cut off by the sound of a loud crash coming from down stairs followed by a scream. Both boys jumped to their feet and ran towards the disturbance. The source of the noise had been the china dishes in the cabinet Harry had seen Dudley messing with. Each dish now lay on the floor in pieces. The boys got to the scene of the crime to see Dudley standing over the mess, a second later, Vernon and Petunia flew through the kitchen door.

"What the bloody-" Vernon was yelling and then stopped when he saw the china. Petunia let out a cry of despair and latched herself onto Vernon's arm.

"It was him, Dad! I saw him do it!" Dudley yelled pointing a fat finger in the direction of Draco.

"Me?" Draco exclaimed looking incredulous, "I was no where near-"

"You did this?" Vernon yelled, his face a dark purple. Petunia sobbed harder.

"No!" Draco threw his hands up into the air.

"Uncle Vernon, it's true! Draco was upstairs with me, Dudley-" Harry tried to defend Draco, but that only made Vernon want to blame Draco more and he cut Harry off before he could say anymore.

"You better tell me the truth, boy!" He yelled advancing on Draco.

"I didn't break your stupid plates!" Draco yelled back.

"Upstairs now! Both of you!" Vernon ordered, "I don't want to see you again until you've learned to start telling the truth!"

Harry and Draco booked it back up to their room. Harry closed the door behind them; Petunia's wails were still clearly audible. Draco kicked the dresser and cursed.

"Hey!" Harry said in defense of his dresser.

"I haven't done anything wrong!" Draco exclaimed and began pacing the room.

"I know." Harry said taking a seat on his bed, "I saw Dudley messing around with that cabinet just a bit ago, it was definitely no accident."

A few minutes later, the sound of Vernon's thundering footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, and then he and Petunia burst into the room. "Alright," he said, his face still crimson. Harry and Draco both stood and faced them. "I want the truth. You broke our china didn't you?"

Draco answered faster than normal, "no, but I've thought about it!" His answer seemed to surprise each person in that room, including himself.

"Excuse me?" Vernon asked after a few seconds of comprehension.

"I said, I've thought about breaking those dishes, I've thought about breaking a lot of things in this house, including your son's neck!" Draco yelled out. Petunia gave a scream and put a hand to her face as if she were about to faint.

Vernon let out a cry of anger and backhanded Draco across the face. Harry jumped back in shock, his eyes wide. Draco just stood there quietly but breathing hard. The door slammed shut and was locked.

The boys stood in silence for a moment. Harry wasn't sure what to do or say, finally he managed, "what was that about?" his voice was a little shaky.

Draco let out a deep breath, "they said they wanted the truth." He muttered coldly.

HPHP

A/N- Well, I hope you enjoyed it! What's going to happen to Draco, you ask? Well, I guess you will have to stay tuned for more! Don't forget to review! LPI3


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- Thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews! I'm really glad you all are enjoying my story so far! Here's another chapter. Sorry about the long wait…once again… LPI3

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

HPHP

Draco let out a deep breath, "they said they wanted the truth," he muttered coldly.

Harry blinked a couple times staring at Draco, almost waiting for another outburst from him. Even though he knew he had crossed the line with his comment to Dudley, Harry couldn't help but feel a little bad for Draco; after all, the Dursley's weren't the easiest people to live with.

"Are you…" Harry paused and shifted uncomfortably in the place where he stood, "are you alright?" It was an awkward question, and he waited for Draco's smart retort, but none came. Draco merely shook his head and turned to the window to look out. "Honestly, if you don't want any trouble around here, that is probably something you shouldn't say out loud." Harry continued referring to Draco admitting he wanted to kill Dudley.

"It just came out before I could even think it!" Draco growled frustrated. "I wasn't going to say anything, and then next thing I knew I had already said it!"

Harry looked at Draco's back for a moment thinking about Draco's actions over the past few weeks. He had to admit; Draco had been doing, well, un-Draco like things. "You're serious then? I mean about not being able to control what you do?"

Draco snorted, "No, Potter, I've just been busting my ass around this stupid house because it's fun!"

Harry ignored Draco's remark, "You think it might be the Imperious Curse?"

"No way could it be the Imperious. I've been under that before, and it feels nothing like this…"

"Well, I don't know what else it could be, some kind of mind control?" Harry suggested again.

"No."

"Well there has to be some explanation," Harry continued getting a little hot under the collar from Draco's stubbornness, "We'll write McGonagall and-" Draco cut him off.

"Just drop it, Potter." He said quietly.

"I can't drop it, something is making you act weird, and we have to find out what it is!"

"Why?"

Harry was taken back by Draco's question. He figured the answer would be clear, "what do you mean why? Whatever is controlling you could be dangerous."

Draco let out a half laugh and turned to face Harry, "Oh of course, you're going to _save_ me!" He sneered sarcastically.

Harry furrowed his brow, "What? No. I don't-"

"How could I have forgotten that Famous Harry Potter has to _save_ everyone?" Sarcasm was practically overflowing from Draco's words. He glared at Harry, his eyes dark with hatred, "Well Potter, you never cared before, so why start now?"

Harry could feel his face growing hotter with every word that Draco spoke, "What are you talking about? I was the one who agreed to let you stay here, I didn't have to do that!" His voice was rising, so was Draco's.

"Well then, I should be thanking you! I mean _where_ would I go, _what_ would I do if I didn't have _precious_ Potter there to hold my hand?" Draco advanced a little closer to Harry, though his voice continued to get louder and angrier.

"I don't understand why you're mad at me, I'm trying to help!"

"I don't want your help! I've never wanted it! You should have just told Dumbledore thanks but no thanks and left it at that!" The boys stood with their noses only inches apart, glaring daggers into each other's eyes.

"Then why don't you just leave?" Harry growled angrily. "I'm sure Mummy would come rushing home if she knew her baby boy was out on the streets all alone with scary Voldemort out there looking for traders."

"Shut up, Potter."

Harry knew he had hit a sensitive spot, but he didn't stop; anger was just pouring out of him and he wanted to throw it at someone, Draco being the closest person, "Of course, if I were on the run from Voldemort, I think I would just forget about my only son too. Leave him to fend for himself while I went and saved my own-" Draco's fist connected with the left side of Harry's jaw, sending him to the ground.

"I told you to shut up!" Draco yelled breathing heavily. His fist was still tightly clenched, his knuckles turning white.

Harry clenched his throbbing jaw and pushed himself back to his feet. "Whether you like it or not, Malfoy, I'm all you've got. And some people just want to help others because it's the right thing to do, not because they get something out of it." Draco pursed his lips tightly as if this concept was just unthinkable. Harry continued, "But if you don't want my help, then fine. I'm tired of feeling sorry for you." He went to his bed and lied down, his back to Draco. Merely giving Draco the silent treatment wasn't exactly what Harry would have preferred, but the bedroom door was still locked, making it impossible to storm out.

HPHPHP

The room began to get darker as the sun started to set. A few hours earlier, they had heard the Dursley's car had started and pulled out of the driveway, leaving the house unusually quiet. Harry continued to stare at the wall by his bed, refusing to turn around and face Draco. He could see the other boy's shadow on the wall, and knew that he hadn't moved from that spot by the window since their fight. The ticking of the clock in the hallway seemed ten times as loud in the quiet house as each second thumped loudly in Harry's ears. He was going to go mad if he didn't move soon! And just as he couldn't take it anymore, Draco broke the silence, startling Harry slightly.

"No one has ever wanted to help me before." It sounded as though it was hurting him to say this, but Harry remained quiet and listened. "I mean, you said it yourself, even my own mother left me high and dry. It's just not that easy for someone like me to trust people."

"Yeah, well not everyone is bad." Harry snapped and turned to face Draco. He didn't care how mean he sounded; he wasn't going to let it go that easily. Besides, his jaw was still sore from where Draco had hit him.

"That's all I've ever known though, incase you've forgotten, Potter, my whole life I've been surrounded by Death Eaters and people who care for nothing but money and fame. Tell me how you could grow up properly with that all around you."

"I may as well have, look what I've got to deal with!" Harry said referring to the Dursley's. Draco stayed quiet. Harry sighed, "Alright, well, if you still want my help figuring out what's going on with you, I will." He knew he would probably end up regretting it later on, but who knows, right?

Draco stared into Harry's eyes for a moment across the darkness of the room, silver piercing into green, and then he slowly nodded.

"Alright then. But first things first, we've got to get rid of that stupid rivalry we've got going on. If we're going to do this, we have to work together."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "I doubt we can just drop it like that."

"Fine, for just until we figure out what's going on, then we can go back to wanting to kill each other." Harry smirked.

Draco nodded with a smirk as well, "that sounds good to me."

"Now then, I want to know a couple of things." Harry said, "and I want the truth. Why did you agree to come here in the first place?"

Draco looked shocked for a moment at the bluntness of the question, and Harry was sure that he would probably punch him again or give a snide remark, but what he didn't expect was Draco actually answering him, "Actually, I was the one that sort of suggested it to Dumbledore." He said quietly and looked down at the floor as if he were ashamed.

Harry had to run the statement several times over in his mind before it actually settled in, "you asked to come here? Why?"

"Just forget it." Draco grumbled.

"No, seriously. Why? Dumbledore told me that you didn't want to be spending the summer here either." Harry's head was spinning, maybe Draco really was sick.

"That's because I asked him not to say anything. I just figured that your house would be safest, and no one would think to come and find me there, I don't know. Dumbledore was trying to find some place for me to go and I blurted out the first name I could think of that wasn't involved in the dark arts." Draco had turned rather pale, he clearly hadn't expected to share this much information with Harry, and it looked like telling the truth was doing a number on him.

Harry sat silently for a moment on the corner of his bed, "Really? I was the first person you thought of? Wow, Malfoy, I'm touched, that's so sweet." He couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter.

Draco rolled his eyes, "shut up." He groaned avoiding Harry's laughing face.

Harry's jaw began to hurt from laughing, and he knew it was mean to taunt Draco, especially in the state that he was in, but he couldn't help it, "Alright, alright. So, now that we know that you're secretly in love with me and wanted to spend your summer with me-"

"Don't flatter yourself."

"-I want to know why you turned rogue Death Eater all of the sudden and started helping Dumbledore."

Draco's face dropped and his cold features got even colder, if that was possible. His eyes narrowed and he pursed his lips tightly together, like he was trying to keep something from getting out. He shook his head.

"Come on, Malfoy, it's not like I'm happy to have more on our side, but I never imagined in a hundred years it would be you, why'd you do it?"

And then Draco did something in response to the question that startled Harry. The blond boy began unbuttoning his black button-up shirt. "Malfoy? What are you-" But before Harry could finish asking, Draco had removed his shirt and Harry's breath caught in his throat at the sight of the other boy's bare chest.

It wasn't, however, the fact that Harry was seeing Draco with no shirt on that made his heart almost stop, it was more do to the fact that Draco's entire abdomen was covered in thick pale scars running every which way, like a miniature highway on his stomach, as well as fading bruises that littered spots around his rib cage and pelvis area. Someone had done a number on him that was for sure.

Harry stared, transfixed, on what he was seeing. He tried several times to speak before asking slowly, "Malfoy, what-"

"A going away present. From my _father_." Draco spat with disgust.

"Your dad did this?" Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure, Lucius didn't seem like the caring, sharing, warm, and fuzzy kind of Dad, but an abusive one? To his only son, his only heir?

"Just before he was sent to Azkaban." Malfoy muttered, "Didn't seem to think it was fair to be the only being punished out of the lot when he was the most faithful follower. After that I'd finally had enough of taking orders from him, and I figured screw it, screw him."

"Draco, we've got to tell someone." Harry said. His eyes only left Draco's chest when the boy began putting his shirt back on.

"No. Don't you dare tell anyone! I'm dealing with this just fine, and I'm not going back so there's nothing to worry about." Draco finished buttoning up his shirt and then folded his arms across his chest.

"But you can't just-"

"A truth serum!" Draco shouted suddenly, causing Harry to jump slightly.

"Excuse me?"

"I can't lie! I had no intention of telling you or anyone else any of that, but then you just simply asked me and I blurted the whole truth out! I couldn't stop myself, just like earlier with your aunt and uncle." Draco looked hopeful at this newfound information.

Harry blinked trying to switch his mind track from one thing to the other, "Don't you think if it were a truth serum it would have worn off by now? I mean the strongest dose I have ever heard about only lasted thirteen hours. Someone would have to constantly be drugging you, and I don't think the Dursley's would stoop as low as learning how to make truth serums just to make you behave."

Draco thought about it for a moment and then his eyes narrowed as he stared at Harry.

Harry gaped, "It's not me!" he exclaimed defensively.

"Well I'm all out of ideas! It's not the Imperious Curse, it can't be mind control, or truth serum, what else is there?" Draco kicked the side of Harry's dresser.

Suddenly, there was a soft tapping coming from the window. Both boys turned their heads to see a small, brown owl hovering on the other side of the glass, a letter held tightly in it's talons.

Harry rushed over and opened the window. The owl dropped the letter into Harry's hand and then took off again, without so much as a quick rest, Harry shrugged, it probably had other plans. He looked down at the envelope and grinned, "It's from McGonagall." He said before tearing it open. Draco had moved closer to see as well.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_I do hope everything has been going all right since my last visit, and that you and Mr. Malfoy are behaving yourselves. I'm writing because I can't seem to find where I placed the scroll of binding contract that Mr. Malfoy signed. I'm sure that it's somewhere here in my cloak and I have just not looked hard enough for it, but on the rare chance that I did leave it at your aunt and uncle's home, and you happen to find it, I would ask if you could return it to me. It isn't a toy, but someone's actual free will, and I would hate for it to fall into the wrong hands. Just keep an eye out for it. But, like I mentioned, more likely then not it's probably here with me. Thank you._

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall _

Harry and Draco looked up at each other once they had finished reading McGonagall's words. They were both thinking the same thing. There were only a few people that actually saw the binding contract, and if Draco didn't have it, and McGonagall seemed to lose it, that left the only other suspects. The Dursley's.

A/N- I know, I know, it's not nearly long enough for the four months that I made you all wait…So, sorry about that! I hope everyone enjoyed it! Feel free to give input! Thanks! LPI3


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, I write purely for the fun of it!

**IMPORTANT A/N**- Alright everyone, thanks a whole bunch for all of the positive feed back, and everyone who is still with this story! I am trying really hard to get back into my creative flow, however, I have gotten a lot of requests for this to turn into a slash fic. Harry/Draco. But I've also gotten people who don't want that, so here's your chance to decide which way the story will go. If you want a slash story, I'll do it, if not, I'll keep it the way it's going. The most reviews for whichever idea wins, so if you really care, I need to know. Thank you! Enjoy this chapter! LPI3

HPHPHP

"Your aunt and uncle have had it this entire time?" Draco yelled angrily as he paced back and forth in the tiny bedroom.

Harry reread the letter from McGonagall several times until he figured he could probably recite it by heart. He looked up at the other boy, "We don't know that for sure." He said, even though deep down he knew there was no other explanation.

Draco looked mad enough to start killing things. His hands clenched into fists, "When I get my hands on those-"

"You aren't going to do anything!" Harry cut him off quickly.

Draco looked over at him with wide eyes of disbelief, "excuse me? You expect me to just sit around here while they control my free will and do whatever they please with me?"

"Yes, that's exactly what you have to do." Harry nodded. Draco opened his mouth to protest, but Harry kept going, ignoring him, "think about it, Malfoy," he said, "if the Dursley's know that we're on to them they could do something drastic with that contract. Up until now they've only been writing small commands, to make you do chores, or not lie. Imagine if they thought that their lives were in danger because you found out what they were doing. They could make you do anything to save their own skins."

Draco was silent for a second. He thought about what Harry was saying, it did actually make sense "Alright then, what are we supposed to do?"

"We can't do anything until we find that contract. It's gotta be somewhere here in the house." Harry paused as if thinking; "remember how after the china broke down stairs and Vernon sent us up here, they came in and told you to tell them the truth about breaking the china and then you blurted out about Dudley? That was when that all started, you telling the truth, right?"

A light bulb seemed to flash inside Draco's mind, he nodded, "yeah, it did actually. So that means that somewhere between the time that we came up here and then they came up, they had to have added to the contract."

Harry smiled, "exactly. So it's somewhere downstairs. I think I know just the place too." His smile dropped, "Problem is, it's not going to be easy breaking into Vernon's office room."

Draco folded his arms across his chest, "like you've never broken into somewhere before?"

"Hey, the last time I went into that room I was five, and I couldn't sit for a week, literally." Harry exclaimed coming to his own defense, "and besides, Vernon's always in that room, doing who knows what, and when he's not it's locked. And Petunia is usually in the kitchen, which is right next to it. I can't get anywhere close to that room with out her looking my way."

Draco sat down on the desk chair facing Harry, "you know how to pick a lock, don't you?"

"Of course I do. But I'm telling you, there is no way we can even get in there long enough without someone noticing us." Harry saw something flash in Draco's eyes, making him uneasy, and then Draco smirked.

"I guess you're gonna need a diversion then." He said.

HPHPHPHP

Early the next morning, the boys were woken up by the soft clicking noise from the lock on the outside of their door. Obviously they were going to be let out for breakfast. Harry jumped out of bed, stepping on Draco in the process, and grabbed some fresh clothes off of his dresser and made a dash for the door, he yelled out "shower!" and then disappeared from sight.

Draco grumbled curses at the other boy as he rubbed the spot on his back that had just been violently squished. Potter would get his when he got back, Draco promised himself. He pushed himself to his feet and dressed quickly before exiting the room.

He could hear the sound of the water running coming from the bathroom, and knew that Harry was more likely then not hogging all of the hot water for himself. Draco smirked and then walked carefully to the bathroom door. He pulled the paper clip out from his pocket that Harry had given him last night, and then wedged it into the little hole in the doorknob and began twisting it around. There was a soft click and Draco smiled in triumph before throwing open the door.

"Good morning sunshine," he announced to the shower curtain that was hiding the other boy from view. There was a loud thud and a curse on the other side, and Draco couldn't help but laugh.

"Malfoy, what the hell?" Harry yelled. He couldn't see the other boy, but he didn't dare peek his head out to look either.

"Just wanted to try out my lock picking skills. Under thirty seconds. Can you do that?" Draco asked in an amused voice.

Harry yelled out a few choice words that weren't very nice before demanding Draco to get out.

"Not very friendly in the morning, are you?" Draco shook his head, but couldn't keep the laughter out of his voice. He went over to the toilet and flushed once. There was a yelp from the shower, and Draco knew that the burst of instant cold water would be pay back enough. "Next time, I get the shower first." He threatened and then slammed the door behind him on his way out.

HPHPHPHP

"Real cute, Malfoy." Harry grumbled as he made his way back into his room, only to find Draco lying stretched out on Harry's bed.

"What can I say?" Draco shrugged, "It's my curse."

Harry rolled his eyes, "come on lets get down to breakfast. And remember, stick to the plan, alright?"

Draco grumbled and nodded, "yeah, yeah." He followed Harry down to the kitchen, which currently occupied all three Dursley's.

As they passed the locked office door, right before the kitchen, Harry nudged Draco in the side to show him that that was where they would have to get. Upon seeing the office, Draco realized just how hard their plan would be since there was a clear view from the office right into the kitchen, and at that moment, Petunia turned her head to the boys as if her "to-close-to-the-office" senses were tingling. She gave them a dirty look as they casually entered the kitchen.

"What's for breakfast, I'm starving!" Draco announced putting on a mischievous grin and taking a seat next to Dudley at the table, "this spot isn't taken, is it?" He whispered to Harry's large cousin indicating the seat that he had already taken. Dudley seemed to go three shades whiter and turned his attention back down on his plate.

Harry had to keep from laughing as he took the seat across from Draco. It was just something about seeing his cousin being tormented that made him good inside.

Vernon eyed the boys curiously as they took their seats, but instead of saying anything he looked down at his watch and sighed, "time to be off." He said and stood from his seat. Petunia kissed her husband good-bye before he left and then dropped two plates of food in front of Harry and Draco.

"Talk about friendly service," Draco mumbled winking at Harry, who had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep a straight face. Petunia seemed to have heard the comment, because she huffed loudly.

"You're lucky we're feeding you anything! Next time, we aren't going to let that crazy old man talk us into letting any more of your kind stay here again!" She snapped.

"Can I have some more eggs?" Draco asked, completely ignoring her, through a mouthful of egg. Harry had to hand it to him, when it came to being obnoxious, Draco definitely could take the prize.

When Petunia pursed her lips and refused, Draco turned to Dudley, who still had a plate full, "You going to finish those eggs?" he asked casually. Dudley pushed the plate to the other boy and stood quickly before running (well, as much of a run as was possible for him,) out of the room.

Draco stood up as well, "Wait, come back! I didn't mean it!" He shouted before running after Dudley. Petunia let out a little squeak, sensing her Dudley-kins was in trouble, and joined in on the pursuit, leaving her water boiling on the stove.

Harry listened to mayhem taking place upstairs. Dudley seemed to have tried to lock himself in his room and was yelling for his mother, Draco was shouting apologies and pounding on the door for the other boy to open up, and Petunia was shrieking at him to leave her son alone. He laughed and shook his head before jumping up and making his way to the office door. This was it. He pulled out the paper clip from his pocket and jabbed it into the lock. Carefully and quickly he twisted it around, knowing that he wouldn't have a lot of time, and then let out a sigh of relief when he heard the click of the lock.

He quietly shut the door behind him, he could still hear the loud voices from upstairs, but couldn't quite make out what was being said; he knew Draco would have it under control though. Harry spotted the desk on the other side of the room and made a beeline for it. All of Vernon's important documents were dealt with on his desk; it had to be there.

The first drawer was just office supply, like pens and whiteout. The second drawer held extra computer paper, the third held a secret stash of sweets, (which Harry had to pop one in his mouth) but the last drawer was locked. Hiding certain documents? Harry shoved the paper clip into this lock as well and began to work his skills.

Harry stopped dead, however, when he heard the front door open and then Vernon's booming voice.

"What's going on up there?" He yelled hearing the disturbance from Petunia, Draco, and Dudley. Harry could hear his uncle making his way up the stairs, and twisted at the lock quicker. They hadn't planned for Vernon to come home, what was he doing back?

The screaming voices upstairs had stopped, and Harry hoped that Draco would be able to hold them off until he was able to get out of there. He felt a flood of relief when the lock gave away and he pulled open the drawer. There lying on top was a rolled up piece of parchment. Harry gingerly grabbed it and opened it up. He could see McGonagall's flowing cursive handwriting all over the page, and then what looked to be a more recent writing scrawled out on the bottom of the page, clearly not McGonagall's. Harry read it, _"I, Draco Malfoy, will not use the word magic." "I, Draco Malfoy, will fully complete any task the Dursley's ask me to do." "I, Draco Malfoy, will tell the truth when asked questions."…_

Harry felt his blood boil as he read over these, as well as a few other recently added statements. He knew Vernon and Petunia's writing when he saw it, and this was definitely theirs. And then there was the 'X' that Draco had signed his name on; not realizing what would end up happening to him.

Just then, Harry heard several pairs of feet descending from the upstairs, and then once again heard Vernon's voice, a little bit more grumpy, "I came home because I forgot my briefcase."

"I think you left it in your study, dear." Petunia also sounded cranky, but also a little relieved that they had rescued Dudley.

Harry's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach as he looked down and saw Vernon's suitcase sitting at his feet.

HPHPHPHP

A/N- I hope you guys liked it! Don't forget, that when you review, tell me what you want to see happen as far as H/D goes. Thanks! LPI3


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer- Once again, I don't own Harry Potter or the characters…

Disclaimer- Once again, I don't own Harry Potter or the characters…

**A/N**- Thank you all for your patients and reviews for me! I've enjoyed reading them and seeing everyone's POVs on the subject of a HD slash fic, and after some thought, and a winning vote, I will NOT be doing a slash fic. Sorry, but I think I agree with a lot of the reviews that said there aren't enough friendship stories out there. So, read on! LPI3

HPHPHP

Harry was temporarily paralyzed when he realized what was about to happen. Vernon was going to be in that room at any second, and he would find Harry, red handed, with the contract in his hands. There was no place to hide! Harry bit his lip he had to act quickly.

Harry turned as the study's door flew open. He spun around to find Vernon Draco, Petunia, and Dudley all crowded in the doorway, Vernon in the front. There was a moment's silence as the two parties stared from one to another.

"What the bloody hell are you doing in here, boy?" Vernon demanded, purple in the face and taking large steps towards Harry. The others behind him followed at a safe distance.

Harry gaped for a moment, his mouth opening and closing several times before he spit out, "n-nothing."

Vernon growled and grabbed Harry by the back of the neck and pushed him away from his desk, "don't lie to me! You know you aren't allowed in here!"

"It was a dare, I made him do it!" Draco piped in stepping in front of Petunia. He didn't really know what he was doing, or why, but he felt obligated to help Harry for some reason.

"Shut up!" Vernon yelled in Draco's direction, he turned back to Harry, "I know for a fact that you wouldn't have come in here unless you were after something…not after what happened last time." He looked quickly around the room, searching for something out of place or missing, his eyes widened like a mad man when he found the desk drawer slightly ajar.

Harry stood quietly against the wall where he had been pushed. He just stared down at his feet, hoping the other occupants of the room would forget about him and just leave. No such luck.

"Alright boy, where is it?" Vernon demanded turning back to Harry and advancing slightly on the boy. Draco shifted uneasily where he stood, readying himself incase of an attack.

Harry looked up nervously and shook his head, "where's what?" He pushed himself closer into the wall with each step Vernon took towards him.

"Turn out your pockets."

Harry's eyes widened at his Uncle, filled to the brim with fear. It only made Vernon that much more power hungry. He was only a few inches away now from the younger boy, and despite not that much height distance between the two he towered over Harry.

"I don't have anything, I swear!" Harry said quickly and quietly.

"Now!" Vernon screamed in the younger boy's face.

Harry jumped and quickly shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and pulled out two handfuls of wrapped hard candy. The room was once more silent as everyone beheld the scene in front of them. Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry saw Draco's eyebrows rise in astonishment and confusion.

"What's this?" Vernon asked picking one of the sweets up and examining it.

"I got them from your desk." Harry's head bent again, "I remembered seeing you eating one the other day, and you know they're my favorites."

Vernon growled angrily once again and slapped the candy out of Harry's hands. The sweets fell the floor with little clicks. "Get out! Everyone get out of here now!…Not you Petunia!"

The three boys made a beeline for the door and fought for a moment at the opening for who would go first, Dudley won, but the others quickly followed him out of the room. They could hear Vernon's yelling from the living room where they were waiting.

Draco rounded on Harry, "Candy?" He demanded quietly. Dudley had already wobbled up the stairs to get away from the other two boys. "I trust you with my soul, and you come back with candy?"

"I didn't go for the candy, dimwit. I went for the contract, you know that!" Harry responded in his own whisper as well.

Draco threw his hands up, "then please tell me you got something else!"

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted as Vernon and Petunia entered the room. Vernon was straightening his tie, the purple leaving his face slowly. He cleared his throat when he saw the two boys and then said gruffly, "Petunia and I have decided that since you only tried to steal candy," He coughed again, "And nothing else, your punishment will only be minor. Now both of you get up to your room. And no coming out until we say so!" Harry and Draco turned and ran up the stairs without another word.

Once at the top of the stairs, the boys paused and listened to Vernon and Petunia talking quietly.

"Just keep an eye on them, Petunia, and if they even look at the study funny, call me straight away. If they find that…paper…that's it. Don't let them anywhere near it!" Vernon whispered. Petunia agreed and then the front door closed, Vernon was gone.

Draco glared over at Harry and then stormed into the tiny bedroom they shared, Harry right behind him. "I can't believe you didn't even get the contract." Draco said angrily, "I put my life on the line so you would have enough time to grab it, but no, you had to go after the candy instead!"

Harry closed the bedroom door and grabbed Draco's arm, spinning him around, "Listen to me, Draco. I wasn't after the candy! Of all people, I thought the master at cheating himself could figure out a lie when he sees one!"

Draco paused, "alright, so you were covering your tracks, that still doesn't help me. Did you at least find it?"

"Yeah, I found it." Harry nodded and sat down on his bed.

"And? Come on Potter, you're killing me with suspense! What did it look like? What did it say?" Draco demanded.

Harry shrugged, "Take a look for yourself." He reached behind him and pulled a folded up piece of parchment from his back pocket. He held it out to Draco, who merely stared at it, eyes wide before slowly grabbing it.

"But your aunt and uncle must have checked to see if it was still there." Draco said looking at the paper in his hands, "they didn't say anything about it."

"That's because they did find it. In the exact spot they left it too. Only that one is a little, er, less magical…" Harry winked at Draco when the other boy realized what he was saying.

Draco grinned, "a copy? I guess you're smarter than I gave you credit for, Potter!"

Harry shrugged, "It's exactly the same only without the power, Vernon and Petunia will never know the difference…at least not anytime soon."

Draco laughed and read through the contents of the contract; shaking his head and muttering swear words as he went. When he was finished he threw the offending paper onto Harry's bed and sat down on his own. "You have one messed up family." He said.

Harry laughed, "yeah, I realized that. Thanks."

"So, how do we get rid of a…spell binding contract?" Draco asked unable to use the word magic.

"Get rid of it? I was actually thinking about keeping it, maybe adding a few of my own demands on it." Harry snatched up the contract and looked at Draco's wide eyes. He couldn't help but laugh.

"That's not funny, Potter." Draco growled. Though his voice sounded relieved when he realized Harry was only joking.

"No, I was thinking we should just send it back to McGonagall, and explain. I bet she would tear into Vernon and Dursley quite a bit." Harry grinned.

Draco shrugged, "I guess. I just want this all to be over with." He laid back and covered his eyes with his arms.

"Two more weeks of vacation left. I'm sure McGonagall will find that there isn't really any need for a contract for such a little time." Harry shoved the contract under his mattress and laid back himself.

"Thanks, Potter." Draco mumbled awkwardly.

Harry smiled, knowing that Draco couldn't see him, "yeah, just remember this next time Snape is giving me a hard time in class."

Draco laughed, "no way."

HPHPHP

A/N- I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'm thinking maybe one more…I don't know yet. Sorry about the long wait! Don't forget to review! Thank you all! LPI3


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I am very sorry about the long wait, I know I always say that, but this time it really wasn't my fault! My computer crashed, and so did all of my saved work, so blame it! Here's the next chapter, hope you all haven't lost interest yet! LPI3

HPHPHP

Harry had planed to send Hedwig out early the following morning with the contract to send to McGonagall. He figured it'd get there by afternoon time and then the angry McGonagall would show up at the house a little before dinner. Draco had insisted that he make up his own punishment for the Dursley's, but Harry was pretty sure he just wanted his family a little scared and guilty, not dead.

"For the last time, you're not boiling my aunt alive in her own soup." Harry rolled his eyes.

Draco let out an annoying breath, "Oh come on, Potter, where's your sense of humor? Don't you think I deserve a little happiness after having to deal with them all summer?"

Harry shrugged, "McGonagall will have to be punishment enough."

"Ooh, what's she gonna do, give them detention?" Draco asked sarcastically. Harry made a face at him. "Listen, Potter, think of this as my way of paying you back. Let me get rid of them for you."

"No! You're not going to kill my family, no matter how horrible they are."

"Well don't say I didn't offer." Draco mumbled.

"No, I'm going to pretend you didn't offer." Harry paused, "you realize that murder is bad, right?"

"I'm not stupid." Draco sneered, "But what's the harm in killing a few muggles? It's not much of a loss."

"Muggles are people too, you know." Harry frowned. He hadn't known Draco could be so comfortable with the idea of murder. He himself didn't think he'd ever be able to take someone's life, well, apart from Voldemort.

Draco shrugged. "The offer's still on the table if you change your mind." With that he left the bedroom.

Harry sat a moment longer on his bed. Malfoy wasn't serious, was he? He couldn't just kill three muggles because they put him through a little bit of hard labor, could he? Would it be easy for him to do? As he thought of these things he came to realize that he really didn't know the other boy like he had thought. How could a sixteen year old boy be so comfortable with the thought of murder?

Petunia's loud shrill of a voice calling for lunch broke him out of his thoughts. Draco appeared at the door again, his hair wet and wild, "you coming, princess?" he asked throwing his dirty towel onto Harry's head and then laughing all the way down stairs.

Harry threw the offending towel away from him in disgust and stood to follow, but as he did the mattress to his bed under him shifted a little and the corner of Draco's contract appeared. Harry hesitated and then pulled it out, the small piece of parchment that had caused so much drama.

Two months ago Harry wouldn't have hesitated to write down a few of his own demands onto the paper if he had had the chance, but now that the opportunity had arisen he couldn't bring himself to do it. He thought about all the things he would have liked to write: I, Draco Malfoy, will do Harry's homework for the rest of his time at Hogwarts. I, Draco Malfoy, will dress up like a girl every second Thursday of the month. I, Draco Malfoy, will never again insult Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, or Harry Potter. And so on and so forth. Harry sighed and put the parchment back under his mattress before heading down stairs.

HPHPHP

When Harry entered the kitchen, Draco was already sitting at the table eating his sandwich and staring nervously at the study door. Harry furrowed his eyebrows at the boy in confusion. Draco nodded silently at the door as Petunia, looking unusually pleased stepped out of the room and locked the door behind her. Harry and Draco looked at each other, knowing exactly what the other was thinking, Petunia had added to the list.

"Well, don't just stand there," Petunia snapped at Harry, "hurry up and eat you two, my flowers need watering."

Draco immediately scarfed down his sandwich and was out the door, cursing quietly, before Harry could take his first bite. He decided it'd be better if he made sure Draco didn't over do it again, so he took his remaining sandwich outside with him.

"You're really good at watering those daisies, Malfoy, maybe you should think of starting a garden of your own." Harry snickered walking up behind Draco.

"Shut up." Draco growled, "This is humiliating."

"Well, just deal with it because we have bigger problems on our plate now."

"Yeah, what'd she write on the contract?"

Harry finished off his sandwich and took a seat on the garden bench, "I don't know, but whatever it is, if you don't do it she's gonna know something up."

Draco was about to respond when Dudley came walking wearily through the lawn, careful to stay a good distance away. Draco smirked and squirted the hose his way, it hit dead on. The pudgy boy yelped and ran towards the door, while Draco drenched him in more water, "oh you definitely win this wet t-shirt contest, Dudders!" he yelled as Dudley ran inside.

Harry couldn't help but laugh as well. He had to admit, of all the things he hated about Draco, the way he could taunt Dudley was something he loved. Seconds later a fuming Petunia came outside.

"What did you do to my son?" She asked loudly, but not too loudly for the neighbors to hear.

"I got him a little wet." Draco shrugged.

Petunia pursed her lips like she always did when she was about to explode. "Why?!"

"He looked a little hot." Draco said again, "Plus it's fun."

"I will not tolerate you hurting Dudley any more, do you understand me?"

Draco clenched his jaw but muttered, "Yes."

Petunia let out a breath of anger and then spun around and walked away, "keep watering!" she yelled back at them.

Draco returned to watering the plants, "if only I had my wand right now." He muttered.

"Do you really think you could kill them?" Harry asked suddenly, he hadn't meant to, it just sort of happened.

"Of course." Draco said honestly and then faced Harry, "where'd that come from?"

"It's just, how could really be that comfortable with taking someone's life?" Harry knew he was using Draco's inability to lie against him and that would make definitely make him angry, but he couldn't help himself.

Draco glared at Harry, "I'm not comfortable with it, but I can do it if I have to…now drop it."

"Have you ever killed anyone before?" Harry asked. He couldn't handle the curiosity any longer.

Draco clenched his mouth shut and began breathing heavily, he was trying his best not to answer.

"I'm sorry, I just…I need to know." Harry said.

"No you don't need to know!" Draco yelled, "You want to know so that you can have yet another reason why you're better than me to hold over my head! So yeah, I've killed a little muggle girl before, my father made me. Now go ahead and tell me how you're better than me because you would never do that!"

Harry wasn't prepared for the outburst or the truths that came with it. His mouth fell open. "I-I'm sorry."

"Save it, Potter, I don't need your sympathy. Once this stupid binding curse is lifted I'm out of here. I should have known you'd stoop this low too to use this against me."

"Draco, I didn't mean to use anything against you. And it's horrible what your father did-" Harry was cut off abruptly as Draco lunged himself at him. They both hit the ground roughly and began wrestling for control punching and kicking.

"Shut up about my father, you don't know anything about him!" Draco growled and punched Harry in the stomach.

Harry grunted and kicked Draco off of him with all his might, "I know he doesn't love you." He panted holding his stomach.

"Oh, you would know all about a father's love, wouldn't you Potter? Considering you've never had one!" Draco wiped off some blood from his nose onto his sleeve.

"If he loved you he wouldn't have made you do something so horrible, and you know it!" Harry groaned from the pain in his stomach and head.

"He's my father," Draco said darkly.

"That doesn't make him right. And that doesn't mean that you have to do horrible things just because he says to."

Draco paused and breathed deeply, "I hate him. I hate everything about him. That's why I turned against You Know Who, not because I was scared, but because I couldn't stand the thought of him getting out of Azkaban and coming home."

"I shouldn't have made you tell me, it wasn't any of my business." Harry said apologetically.

"No, it wasn't." Draco said coldly. He sighed slowly and looked away before saying quietly "but it was good to get it off my chest."

"Just because your father wants you to kill, it doesn't mean you have to." Harry said. "In fact, if you really wanted to piss him off you wouldn't kill."

Draco half smiled, "yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I've already made son of the year on the disappointment list."

"So, would you really kill my aunt and uncle then?" Harry asked getting to his feet.

Draco hesitated a moment, "no, I guess not." He sighed.

Harry smiled, "Sorry again. And that little girl, it wasn't your fault."

Draco got to his own feet frowning, "yeah, sure," he said and then made his way inside.

Harry didn't bother Draco for the rest of the day, who just stayed upstairs in the room and didn't come down at all.

HPHPHP

"Alright, it's been sent." Harry smiled as he watched Hedwig fly off into the sunrise.

"Finally," Draco sighed rolling over onto his back in his bed, "if I never have to do a chore again it'll be too soon."

"Are you really going to leave after McGonagall sets things straight?" Harry asked sitting down on his bed.

"Well, yeah. There's no reason for me to stay, it's just a week I'll be fine."

"Yeah, but I figured since you can do whatever you want again we could have some fun tormenting Dudley more." Harry shrugged.

Draco closed his eyes. "You know that once we go back to school things go back to the way they were, right?"

"I figured as much, but why?"

Draco let out a little laugh, "What do you mean why? I'm not your girlfriend, Potter, we're not gonna hold hands and giggle about all the fun we had over the summer. I'll go back to Slytherin and you'll go back to your little 'wonder trio'."

Harry laughed too, "You're right, I guess I didn't think about how our friends would take this."

"They'd over react. So as far as we are concerned, we stayed out of each other's way, fought whenever possible, and did not share a room."

"Clearly you've thought this through." Harry grinned.

Draco shrugged, "I've had a lot to think of this summer."

"I'm just saying if you need somewhere to go next summer too…" Harry said slowly. "Don't think about asking."

Draco let out a snort of laughter and threw his pillow at Harry's head, "I'm not making that mistake again, believe me."

HPHPHP

McGonagall's appearance was sooner than Harry had expected. No later then the clock hit 12:01pm that there was a knock at the door.

"Potter, Malfoy." She greeted rather quickly when they opened the door. She looked furious, "a word with your aunt and uncle?"

"Yeah, glad you got the letter; they're in the living room." Harry said gesturing towards the living room.

McGonagall walked swiftly out of the room and seconds later her loud voice was demanding answers from a couple of very startled Dursley's.

Harry and Draco ran quickly to get a better look, laughing as they did.

"How dare you two do this to a child?" McGonagall demanded pacing back and forth between Vernon and Petunia, who looked rather small, bunched up in their chairs. "Not only could you have endangered Mr. Malfoy's life, but you have also violated the code of the binding contract! This shall not be taken lightly, I assure you! Why, if we were in the wizarding world, a few years in Azkaban might do you two some good!"

Much of the same kind of yelling went on for at least an hour. Vernon and Petunia never got in a word, and both looked as though they were in too much shock to answer. Finally, McGonagall turned to the boys, red in the face she said, "Consider the contract and its bind unsanctioned. I am terribly sorry about the inconvenience Mr. Malfoy. I assure you it won't happen again."

"Of course it won't." Malfoy said smugly.

"I can set you up in a room at the Leaky Cauldron if you don't want to spend the remainder week of break here; it is completely understandable with the outrages actions of these two." She turned around and glared again at Vernon and Petunia who shrank lower in their seats.

Draco thought a moment, "No thank you. I think I can survive one more week here, even though the past two months have been very difficult and painful." He tried to sound as pathetic as he could and it worked because McGonagall once again rounded on the two muggles and let them have it about child labor and unfair treatment. Draco winked at Harry who laughed silently next to him.

HPHPHP

"Harry! Harry!"

Harry turned to see Hermione and Ron running towards him through the busy train station. He grinned and made his way to them. Hermione hugged him instantly and Ron clapped him on the back.

"Thanks for the letters, pal." Ron laughed sarcastically.

Harry smiled, "Oh right, sorry, I tried to write more, but this summer was really busy."

"I bet." Ron said eyeing Draco some yards away with a group of Slytherins, "just trying to stay away from him can be a full time job."

"Oh, Harry, was he just awful?" Hermione asked concerned.

Harry looked over at Draco who was no doubt telling his friends how pathetic and stupid Harry was. "Oh, he was Malfoy." He said simply.

"You have to tell us everything," Ron said as they walked towards the Hogwarts Express, "Just how bad was it? Please tell me he at least cried once!"

Harry laughed, "It was one really long summer." He turned to look at Draco again, who was boarding a little farther down, when his friends weren't looking. Draco looked over at him as well and made a face before giving him a quick smile and then boarded the train.

Harry shook his head with a smile, "oh, I have tell you guys about what he talks about in his sleep!" He exclaimed and climbed on board after his friends.

~FIN~

A/N- Omg. I'm finished. Thank you all for reading and I really hoped you enjoyed this! I did enjoy writing it, even though it took me forever!! Don't forget to review! LPI3


End file.
